Biomedical subjects
P van Houten
Publications and source records attributed to P van Houten.
[Nutrition problems in nursing home patients caused by restrictions in functions].
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Vitamin C status in elderly women: a comparison between women living in a nursing home and women living independently.
The vitamin C status in blood fractions in 135 elderly women aged 65 years and older was studied within the framework of the Dutch Nutrition Surveillance System. Mean (+/- standard deviation) vitamin C intake (mg/day) was lower among women living in a nursing home (54 +/- 27 mg/day) than among women living in service flats (97 +/- 55 mg/day) and women living independently (132 +/- 44 mg/day). (Service flats are apartments in which the rent includes housekeeping and, when ordered, meal service.) Marginal vitamin C values (< 23 mumol/L) in blood fractions and even levels as low as those found in clinical scurvy (< 11 mumol/L) were frequently observed. In the nursing home, 35% of the women had plasma vitamin C values below 11 mumol/L, and 23% had values between 11 and 23 mumol/L. Blood levels were not significantly affected by age, smoking status, or use of particular drugs but were strongly (r = .47 or, after logarithmic transformation, r = .64) associated with daily intake of vitamin C. Low intake of vitamin C resulted from an overall low food consumption and selective restriction of food products rich in vitamin C. Vitamin C losses caused by food preparation practices and distribution in the nursing home's catering system reduced actual vitamin C intake levels but these losses were not substantially greater than those that are assumed to occur as a result of preparation practices by women living independently.
Institutionalized elderly women have lower food intake than do those living more independently (Dutch Nutrition Surveillance System).
The habitual intake of energy and nutrients (assessed through dietary history) among elderly women (aged 65 and over) living in a nursing home (n = 54), elderly women living in service flats and receiving their dinners from the nursing home kitchen (n = 29), and elderly women living independently (n = 52) was evaluated within the framework of the Dutch Nutrition Surveillance System. Intake of energy and nutrients was lowest among women in the nursing home and highest among those living independently. Almost all differences in absolute intake found were significant, both unadjusted and adjusted for age. In the nursing home the intake of energy and nutrients was lower at higher age. In qualitative terms the differences among the groups of women were less striking. Mean daily intakes of iron, vitamin A, thiamin, vitamin B6 and vitamin C were below the Dutch recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) among the nursing home women. Several interrelationships among nutrient intakes were found, low intake levels clustering somewhat among elderly subjects. Our data indicate that these nutritional risks are due to a lower food intake resulting in a lower intake of energy and nutrients, and owing to differences in food choice resulting in a lower nutrient density. We conclude that it is difficult to design a diet containing all essential nutrients at the RDA level in a nursing home with residents who have a relatively low intake of energy, especially among those at higher age.
Marginal nutritional status among institutionalized elderly women as compared to those living more independently (Dutch Nutrition Surveillance System).
The nutritional status (assessed by anthropometric indices, and biochemical and hematological variables in blood) of three groups of elderly women (aged > or = 65 years) was evaluated within the framework of the Dutch Nutrition Surveillance System. The groups were composed of women living in a nursing home (n = 51), women living in service flats and receiving their dinners from the nursing home kitchen (n = 29), and women living independently (n = 52). Mean blood levels of folate, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, alpha-tocopherol, vitamin C, albumin, selenium and total cholesterol were significantly (p < 0.05) lower among nursing home women. Among these women a biochemical deficiency was frequently found for 25-hydroxyvitamin D (73%), pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (57%), vitamin C (38%), selenium (30%) and folate (28%). These nutritional risks were largely independent of each other. Since folate and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate were associated with several clinicochemical indicators, health status may be an important determining factor for this unfavorable situation. Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were associated with limited exposure to ultraviolet radiation and nonusage of vitamin D supplements. We conclude that dietary intake variables are not the only determinants of a marginal nutritional status among nursing home women. Use of foods with a high nutrient density should be encouraged, whereas other preventive measures are needed to improve vitamin D status.
Urinary and faecal incontinence in community-residing elderly women.
The prevalence of urinary and faecal incontinence was investigated in a sample of 1049 women aged 60 years and over in the municipality of Amstelveen, the Netherlands; 719 postal histories were completed. The overall prevalence of urinary incontinence was 23.5%. Daily urine loss was reported by 14.0% of all women. In women aged 60 to 84 years and 85 years and over 4.2% and 16.9% were faecally incontinent, respectively. In all age groups poor mobility and frequency were associated with urinary incontinence. Urgency was independently associated in women aged 60-85 years as was nocturia in women aged 85 years and over.
Cholesterol and mortality in elderly women.
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Interhemispherical comparisons in the processing of contour and random texture sinewave stereograms.
Contour and random texture stereograms were developed, using continuously variable, vertically oriented, sinewave horizontal disparities and variable texture densities. The contours were both computer printed and generated, and presented on a dual-beam oscilloscope; the textures were generated on a UNIVAC-to-Calcomp plotter, photographed, and then presented as slides, via rear-view polarized screens, in both static and dynamic modes. By means of fixation control, in normal subjects, the images in the right and left visual fields (thus: left and right visual cortices) were studied either separately or together. Parameters such as apparent depth, rate of depth-phi-motion, target density (matching and mismatching), depth ripple rate, Panum's horizontal fusion-disparity limits, and imposed monocular vertical prismatic imbalance, were studied for the separate hemispheres. In all but a few instances, the results show comparable, thus symmetrical, performances for right and left visual cortices. In those few instances where we could say that clear inter-cortical differences were found, they were found with both contour and texture targets. Furthermore, the density range of the targets (from 0.5 down to 0.005) was chosen so as to cover the phenomenal and physical range from true textures, at the high density end, to single disparate dots, at the low disparity end. But no sharp flex points were found, for any of several parameters, when moving from textured to dot targets. Although generally, observer and hemispherical variance were greater with the higher densities, the curves (with density) were ogival or S-shaped in form and never discontinuous. These results are discussed in the context of two previous findings in the literature. We cannot support the claim that there is somehow a difference in the way in which the visual cortex processes localized dot or contour targets from the way in which it processes pattern or texture targets. Secondly, the literature tends increasingly to support the contention that right occipital injuries hinder the processing of texture stereograms but not that of dot or contour stereograms. Since we could find only a scattered enhancement of right hemispherical prowess in normal vision, with both sorts of stereograms, this suggests that, - should these effects be reliably found in such patients, - they would have a different and non-congenital basis.